Rural Japan Church Planting Network Founding Meeting Part A 3 to 5 PM Overview of Church Presence/Absence (Unchurched Japan = Rural Japan) Overview of Distribution of Missionaries/Rural Outreach RJCPN Introduction and Projects Overview Ways urban missionaries and churches can help reach rural Japan (Presentation, Q&A/Panel Discussion, and Open Discussion) Next Steps for RJCPN? Q&A, Survey, Discussion Commitment form

Rural Japan Church Planting Network Founding Meeting Part B 7 to 9 PM RJCPN Planning Discussion– How can RJCPN help mobilize, sustain long-term, and resource rural Japan workers and mobilize and equip urban partners? Season of Prayer for Rural Japan RJCPN Near-Term Goals and Action Items Rural worker info and idea exchange— Mutually sharing what we are finding works well and what struggles we are facing in our ministry.

Overview of Church Presence/Absence

JAPAN UPG SEGMENT Segment population Churches - status Percent Christian Missionary resources Total population Mega-Cities (Finishing) > 1 million10s to 100s of churches in each city 1-2%Abundant27 million in 12 MegaCities Urban areas (Mixed/Transitio ning) 50K to 1 million1 to 10s of churches in each area %Abundant66 million in 442 urban communities Rural areas (Pioneering) Note: URA = Unreached Rural Area 3K - 50K (2400 Total RAs are URAs; 900 URAs 6K-20K) 0-1 churches 14 million in 1505 URA's have NO church or outreach < 0.1%Scarce34 million in 2443 rural communities (only 938 have a church) Highly isolated rural area (IRA). < 3KTypically no church or sustained outreach Typically noneAbsent600,000 people in 325 areas Four Missiologically Distinct Japans; 3234 Distinct Communities

Yellow=no church; unchurched rural area = URA; 3K-50K population Green-no church; ＜ 3K pop Blue=church; Rural Area; 3K- 50K population Purple=church; >1,000K pop. Pink=church; 50k-1000K pop. Orange=church; ；＜ 3K pop.. Out of 2400 rural communities 3K to 50K in population, approx do not yet have a single church (see yellow).

% of Communities in Prefecture that are URAs (excl. <3K) 60-77% URAs Nagasaki 76.4 Saga 73.9 Akita 72.5 Kumamoto 71.4 Aomori 70.0 Niigata 68.6 Mie 68.2 Tottori 64.9 Kagoshima 64.0 Miyazaki 63.2 Gifu 62.7 Yamagata 61.4 Fukui 61.3 Hiroshima 61.2 Iwate 61.0 Oita 60.9 Tokushima %URAs Shimane 59.6 Ishikawa 59.5 Tochigi 57.3 Fukushima 56.6 Okayama 55.4 Gunma 54.0 Kochi 53.7 Miyagi 53.6 Yamanashi 52.9 Nagano 51.7 Shiga 51.0 Yamaguchi 50.0 Fukuoka 48.4 Toyama 48.1 Hyogo 46.7 Wakayama 46.7 Kyoto 46.5 Hokkaido 46.4 Aichi 42.9 Kagawa 41.9 Nara % URAs25-40%URAs Ehime 39.3 Ibaraki 38.1 Chiba 33.8 Okinawa 33.3 Shizuoka 31.5 Saitama 28.1 Kanagawa 16.2 Osaka 13.6 Tokyo %URAs

TOKYO

AKITAAKITA

Martin Ghent’s Talk

Relationship between URAs and Missionary Distribution

All 47 Prefectures —Missionaries (red) and URAs (blue). Prefectures in order of %of URAs.

Inverse Proportion of URAs and Missionaries

The 27(23) least churched prefectures have almost no missionaries

% of Communities in Prefecture that are URAs (Prefecture, # URAs, # of Missionaries in Prefecture [most in cities]) About 700 unchurched areas; only 160 missionaries (80 units). Nagasaki Saga 34 4 Akita 50 2 Kumamoto Aomori Niigata 72 7 Mie Tottori 24 0 Kagoshima 55 7 Miyazaki 24 9 Gifu Yamagata 27 3 Fukui 19 4 Hiroshima Iwate 36 0 (16?) Oita 28 5 Tokushima unchurched areas; only 232 missionaries. Shimane 28 2 Ishikawa Tochigi Fukushima 47 8? Okayama Gunma Kochi 22 2 Miyagi Yamanashi Nagano Shiga Yamaguchi unchurched areas; 450 missioanries. Fukuoka Toyama 13 7 Wakayama 21 2 Hyogo Kyoto Hokkaido Aichi Kagawa 18 6 Nara to 13 unchurched areas; 600 missionaries Kanagawa Osaka 6 56 Tokyo Unchurched Areas; 400 missionaries Ehime 22 0 Ibaraki Chiba Okinawa Shizuoka Saitama % URAs % URAs 40-49% URAs 0-24%URAs 25-40%URAs Purple = Less than one unit (couple or single) in whole prefecture per every 5 URAs; Green = 1 unit in prefecture per 3 to 5 URAs; Orange = 1 unit per 1 to 3 URAs; Black = 1 to many units per each URA.

Proportional Needs and In-Prefecture Resources Impact Potential Strategies No URAs left, essentially (100s of missionary and almost no URAs) Kanagawa Osaka Tokyo Intentional action just by FT CPers/Ms already in/headed for prefecture could finish job even w/o cluster of URAs/partnership approach (>2 units/1 URA) AichiChiba HyogoKyoto NaraOkinawa SaitamaShizuoka Scant but potentially sufficient resources (1 unit/cluster of 2 to 5 URAs) within prefecture to finish job via cluster of URAs/ church partnership approach AomoriFukuoka GunmaHiroshima HokkaidoIbaraki Iwate (post 3/11*) IshikawaKagawa Kumamoto Miyagi(?)Nagano Okayama Shiga TochigiToyama Yamaguchi Yamanashi Many new lead church planters needed; CP Teams with multiple other FT CPAs/Ms needed; cluster of URAs approach needed. Few nearby churches in region limits potential partnership. <1 M unit/cluster of 5 URAs. Akita Ehime FukuiFukushima(?) GifuIwate (pre 3/11*) Kagoshima KochiMie Miyazaki Nagasaki NiigataOita SagaShimane Tokushima Tottori Wakayama Yamagata(?)

The need is tremendous. Human resources are often scant and mostly latent—yet in many cases sufficient if activated. More human resources are also needed. The status quo alone is not getting us there in most prefectures. Many things we are doing or could do as individuals, teams, agencies, and so on. But are there not also things we can do better together? If so, in such areas, a network can be one part of making a difference. RJCPN is being launched as a forum to explore and pursue research, prayer, awareness, and collaboration regarding the unchurched communities in rural Japan. Introduction to the Rural Japan Church Planting Network (RJCPN)

Introduction to RJCPN—Vision Statement RJCPN exists as a forum to facilitate and promote awareness, idea exchange, fellowship, prayer, connection, and free and diverse collaboration among equal entities (whether groups or individuals) to increase awareness and engagement with the gospel of Japan’s unchurched rural areas which are a large, but for the most part almost completely neglected, segment in a country that as a whole is still in large measure unreached. Vision Statement ビジョンステートメント The vision of the Rural Japan Church Planting Network (RJCPN) is the presence of a lasting local gospel witness in each of the unchurched rural areas throughout Japan so that the maximum number of rural Japanese now and in future generations have a meaningful opportunity (in their own community) to come into relationship and continue to walk with God in this life and for all eternity as disciples of Jesus. ビジョンステートメント RJCPN （日本地方教会開拓ネットワーク）のビジョンは、日本中の 教会がまだない地方の地域のそれぞれに、永続的にその土地の福音の証し人が存在すること である。それは現在も将来の世代においても地方にいるできるだけ多くの日本人が神との親 しい関係に導かれるための意味のある機会をもち、キリストの弟子としてこの地上でもまた 永久的に神と歩み続けるためである。

Introduction to RJCPN: Mission Statement ミッションステートメント RJCPN のミッションは、これらを尊 重する環境における協力をとおし て、日本の教会がまだない地方の 地域へ伝道を促進することであ る。 -- 祈りへの動員、 -- 働き人の動員、 -- 意識の構築、 -- データの調査と分かち合い, -- アイデア交換、 -- 相互の教授と励まし、 -- 多様なアプローチ ( 伝統的か非伝統的融合的な ど） Mission Statement The mission of the Rural Japan Church Planting Network is to facilitate the reaching of Japan’s unchurched rural areas (URAs) via: -- prayer mobilization, -- worker mobilization, -- awareness building, -- data research and sharing, -- idea exchange, -- mutual equipping and encouragement, and -- collaboration in an environment that honors diverse approaches (whether traditional, non-traditional, blended, etc).

Scope of RJCPN Some specific things are already envisioned. That said, the types of projects and collaboration possible via RJCPN are intended to be very broad and diverse with no preconceived limits so long as the focus is directly or indirectly related to reaching the approximately 1500 communities in Japan that, prior to the recent decade of city/town mergers, had populations of 3,000 to 50,000 and currently have no established Protestant Christian church.

In a Nutshell: Broad and Diverse RJCPN is open to Christians who affirm the statement of faith. It is for both foreigners and Japanese, male and female. As equal partners. It is for missionaries, pastors, and lay persons. It is for those working in rural Japan, urban Japan, and abroad with a heart for rural Japan. It is for individuals, groups, churches, agencies, associations, and so on. With a Facilitating and Inclusive Mind Set Default is to be as non-exclusive as pragmatically possible. Participation in one RJCPN aspect/activity does not require or imply endorsement or participation in any other aspect. This allows for maximum diversity of collaborative potential, rather than exclusion of activities not all are interested in. That Honors Diversity. RJCPN seeks to see rural Japan reached with the gospel in any God-honoring Biblical way. It is not prescriptive in nature. We have no canned program we want to propagate. RJCPN is not intended as a forum to preferentially promote or discourage any particular approach, method, or paradigm. RJCPN recognizes God works through various people and groups in highly diverse ways so does not seek to promote any given paradigm as the 'best practice for all.’ At the same time, we recognize the value of and facilitate idea exchange/learning from one another. RJCPN is what WE make it. RJCPN is not limited just to the specific plans already envisioned, but is intended by its very nature to be open to a largely unlimited range of possible collaborations/projects except as factors like limited volunteer resource pragmatically limit what is pragmatic at any given time. Share specific ideas you'd like to see facilitated and help facilitate via RJCPN at any time by emaling Introduction to RJCPN: CORE VALUES (Draft; partial list).

Introduction to RJCPN: Structure RJCPN is comprised solely of volunteers mutually committed to working together in good faith to the degree each member deems collaboration in a specific activity to be synergistic. RJCPN is a loose network, it is not an organization. As such, members do not exercise authority over one another. Rather, any member in good standing (meeting RJCPN's membership requirements) can freely mutually collaborate via RJCPN in a given activity or aspect of RJCPN without incurring any obligation to participate in any other RJCPN activities. Further, no RJCPN leader or member can obligate any other RJCPN member to any activity. The basic leadership structure of RJCPN exists to coordinate and facilitate the network's function for the benefit of the members as it pertains to their common goal of increasing outreach in rural Japan, not to seek to impose activities on members. Rather, each RJCPN member freely chooses which activities to commit to and which not to be involved in. 1)RJCPN Founder/Coordinator: Dawn Birkner. 2)RJCPN Advisory Council (3 to 5 members): Dawn Birkner, Martin Ghent, Heather Nelson. Non- Voting Participant: One of the Klines. To express interest in serving in this way or to nominate someone else, contact 3)RJCPN Consultation Advisors (supplemental advisory pool): John Mehn, Donnel McLean, Don Wright 4)Specialty Roles : When concrete needs for various functional roles emerge (e.g. prayer bulletin coordinator) or specialty focuses arise, volunteers will be sought to fill those roles. Those interested in offering to serve in a specialty role are welcome to to express and describe their interest. 5)General Membership: open to any Protestant Christian who adheres to the statement of faith, agrees to operate within RJCPN activities that they choose to participate in in accordance with the core values, lives out their Christian faith in their practical walk, and has a heart for rural Japan. Subject to approval of the RJCPN coordinator and advisory council. Please fill out the membership commitment form today or to join. Members receive updates by and are free to submit ideas, proposals, and input or participate in various RJCPN activities at any time.

Introduction to RJCPN: Projects Overview Prayer Mobilization (also a key aspect of awareness building) A) 47 overseas prayer groups, where each one is committed to praying for the URAs of one adopted prefecture. Overseas portion well underway. Several continents involved. Underway. B) Quarterly prayer bulletins for URAs. Underway. C) Bilingual prayer bulletins. Future goal. D) 47 in Japan prayer groups, where each one is committed to praying for the URAs of one adopted prefecture. Future goal. E) Prayer requests for prayer bulletins supplied by 47 prefectural representatives in Japan. Future Goal. Research/Stats/Mapping A) Initial Phase--Mapping project showing all URAs in each of Japan’s 47 prefectures. Over 20 done and on line at RJCPN website. 17 more should be online within a week or two. And the last nine to follow soon. B) Database of URAs (based on pre-merger community delineations) and outreaches among them. Ressurrected from hard copy information, database completed, and now online as a downloadable Excel file. However, more info on church plants and outreaches in URAs still needs to be gathered. (Note: From 1999 to 2012 when most rural towns or villages in Japan were amalgamated and legally merged with largely unrelated distinct towns/villages or large cities in the region). The database contains information by region and prefecture on each pre-merger community name, its population, whether or not it has at least one established Protestant church, the larger post-merger entity (city) with which it has been merged in recent years, and any known outreaches or church planting activitiy in the subset of communities that are URAs. Kanjj, hiragana, and romaji names are given for the pre-gappei communities and kanji and romaji are also given for the larger entities with which these communities have been governmentally merged. The URA column/field indicates whether the community is deemed an unchurched rural area for RJCPN‘s purposes. Submissions of corrections and new information updates are welcome at any time. C) Inclusion of rural Japan statistics and maps online and also in the upcoming Operation Japan update. D) Distribution of missionaries relative to URA locations. Future goal. E) Ongoing database and map updates. Other A)RJCPN website development. Work in progress, but underway. Provides place to post research/data/maps; openings for missionaries in rural Japan; and news/prayer letters/links for ministries in URAs. B) Development of the RJCPN Advisory Council. C) RJC Conference in U.S. in February

RJCPN Projects Overview Proposals or Ideas under Discussion or Consideration: A)2012 or 2013 East and West Japan regional rural Japan church planting workshops (proposed by John Mehn; would be taught largely by Martin Ghent and Dawn Birkner), in cooperation with JEMA, IF sufficient interest). B)Annual or bi-annual rural worker’s retreat/conference (proposed by Dawn Birkner). C) Info exchange/resource exchange forum for rural Japan missionaries(but how?). D) Cross-agency internship opportunities in rural Japan for first term missionaries (concrete possibilities probable in a few prefectures among a few agencies). E) Inter-agency rural church planting teams. F) Greater involvement of Japanese pastors/churches (a few interested individuals have been identified, but this has not yet been broadly pursued; translation issues first need to be addressed). G) Greater involvement of the missionary community/identification of more missionaries already working in rural areas. H) __________________________________________________? It’s up to you (and other participants). RJCPN exists to help facilitate, not to push a pre-determined agenda. Share your goals; see what collaboration with others might emerge.

KAGAWAKAGAWA

RJCPN Website and Contact Information The address for RJCPN is The website is Some of the website content includes: Database (as downloadable excel file) that summarizes the RJCPN Japan church status database. A nationwide color-coded map showing all the URAs in Japan at a glance. Detailed color-coded maps for each prefecture that show all URAs remaining in each prefecture. Volunteer opportunities to help in RJCPN’s logistical operations. Prayer Bulletins. Quarterly(ish) prayer bulletins posted online and sent to prayer groups. Place to post missionary opportunities (ST or LT) in URAs. Place to post prayer/newsletters/links related to URA ministries. Until auto registration is set up, just RJCPN if you want to register so you can post missionary openings or prayer letters in URAs.

Introduction to RJCPN: Endorsements and Acknowledgments RJCPN is endorsed by: **International Ministerial Fellowship (IMF) **Operation Japan **Reaching Japanese for Christ (RJC) **Reaching Japan Together Association (RJTA) Acknowledgments and Thanks. Projects underway and pre-launch preparations were possible due to the efforts of the following individuals and groups: Individuals: Gary Bauman, Dawn Birkner, Roberta Birkner, Cindy Dufty, Aukje Dykstra, Karen Ellrick, Dan Earner, Angela Fukutome, Natsumi Gallant and friends, Martin Ghent, Yukio Hanazono, Japanese friend of John Mehn, David Junker, Joshua and team with YWAM DTS, Stephenie Li, George McFall, Donnel McLean, John Mehn, Karen Myers, Hugh and Heather Nelson, Keiko Obayashi, Lana Oue, Madi Robb, Brent Rogers, Viki Rousell, Tom and Dorene Rutherford, Joey Stoll, Yoshihiko Taniguchi, Deborah Ruth Trotter, Wendy, Don Wright. Though volunteering as individuals, these people are missionaries in Japan serving with COC,CTEN, CW, IMB, MUP, OMF, TEAM, and WEC; others in Japan and affiliated in some way with CIS, IMF, JCF, or YWAM DTS; tentmakers and independent missionaries in Japan; former/retired missionaries to Japan; foreign Christian living in Japan; Japanese laypersons living in Japan and the U.S.; pastors affiliated with AOG churches in Japan (pastor); and lay persons form and Calvary Chapel churches (lay persons) in the U.S. Groups: Brigada; Church Information Services; Japan Church Planting Institute; Japan Harvest Magazine; Operation Japan; Reaching Japanese for Christ; prayer groups in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Europe/UK, Africa, China, and the Phillipines.

Logistical Volunteer Opportunities 1) Foreign Prefectural Prayer Groups. 2) Japan Prefectural Prayer Groups. 3) 47 Japan Prefectural Representatives—people in each prefecture who are broadly aware of outreach in their prefecture, willing to do occasional research, and who gather or provide quarterly prayer requests for URAs in their prefecture in Japanese, English, or preferably both. Seeking suggestions or someone you know perhaps? 4) Logistical volunteers (in Japan and abroad) in areas of IT, research, translation, graphics, writing, editing, promotion, data entry, administrative assistance, prayer coordination, web design, or other logistical support to RJCPN’s overall function or various special projects. 5) Open to additional nominations for advisory council.

Several Factors Impact Partnering Strategies with Urban Churches Distance Too Close (within 30 minutes) Just Right (30 min. to 1 hour) A stretch but doable (1 hours to 1.5 hours) Too Far (>1.5 hours) (exception: Tohoku) Transport--For most URAs, lack of a car is a significantly limiting factor Other Factors Too busy (some urban pastors in somewhat rural prefectures pastor 2 or 3 churches and can’t take on anything else) Motivated vs. Unmotivated (outreach not a priority) Retired Japanese Pastors as Major Resource? Experienced as pastors but inexperienced in church planting Insensitivity to rural differences, pragmatic and cultural Attitude—antiforeigner, anti-church planting, ‘not my responsibility,’ expectations of ‘city’ results in unplowed rural ground, denominational issue, charismatic/non- charismatic issues, “too hard to bother’, urban comparisons, etc. Reaching Rural Japan from the Cities

From Tokyo and Osaka (more than 1 to 1.5 hours away from a URA—or a bit further for Tohoku) Prayer, Encouragement, and Awareness Building: a)Japan Prefectural Prayer Groups (pastor’s association?) b)Regional missionary and pastor prayer meetings with intentional inclusion of rural workers. c)Representing rural Japan needs in networking settings (which tend to be in the city)—awareness building. d)Phone prayer partner/encourager/informal place of retreat for rural workers. Short-Term Teams Sharing/Loaning part-time short-term teams from abroad to the countryside church planting teams. ROTATING Japanese short-termers—one weekend or one week a year times 52 people or one weekend or week a month times 12 people. Church-based Japanese short-term teams sent to help rural church planters and/or sow initial seeds (tracting, music, special programs/meetings, CP-based community service activities, etc.) Mini-furlough/vacation coverage to rural church planters Seminary/Bible School Training Awareness Field trips (short-term teams) and longer rural (unpaid) internships. Other City to country returnee training (yasumi, permanent by chance, permanent intentional as vocational home country Ms) Translation support to URA church planting missionaries Logistics support to RJCPN

Reaching Rural Japan from the Cities Those Within 30 min. to an Hour or so (too far and too close have serious downsides): As a missionary, believer, pastor, church, English teacher/JCF, give a small amount of your time and ability quarterly, monthly, or weekly to assist a lead church planter who is focused on in a URA or contiguous URA cluster. If no lead church planter, carve out a significant chunk of your time to be a part-time lead rural church planter from the city or raise up someone to be such or even relocate to a nearby URA to CP while also continuing your city ministry part-time via a commute from the countryside Help lead URA church planters to mobilize city churches to assist. “Give” willing ‘starting core seed members’ to a rural CP—and shave a few years off the CP time in the URA while also reducing attrition of CPers. Or lead a CP in a URA where your church already has ’seed members’ among its commuters. Attend or hold classes/clubs/activities in URAs to make contacts, then evangelize and also connect to local CP events Teach city church members to witness to their relatives/friends who live in URAs. Short-term teams/outreaches with follow-up by a URA CP or by your church if there is no CP underway yet. Help identify and connect clusters of people with interest? (JCF, CPer, pastor, city Ms, etc.) Encouragement and a place of retreat for rural workers/Intentionally making room in your life for rural workers Raising up pastors and lay church planters to plant churches in URAs Take care not to inadvertently undermine a fragile core or otherwise unintentionally do more harm than good Be sensitive to differences in urban and rural settings (car vs. train, variety vs. too much gimu--fliers, fancy vs. sustainable, etc.) Distribution to help CPers Door to door work (with care to not appear to be JWs) to help CPers or to sow seeds where there is no CP JW outreach specialty work. Don’t compare with city ministry less you get discouraged or cause discouragement—Pioneer seed sowing and water/harvest stage settings are apples and oranges. Rural “Gospel” choirs/classes? If interested in connecting with a rural CP, I probably know of concrete opportunities in Kagawa, Kochi, Iwate, Aomori, Hokkaido, Ibaraki, N Chiba, and Nagano, to name a few.

RJCPN DISCUSSION TIME Participant Q&A and Panel Discussion RJCPN—Open Discussion of what you want RJCPN to do and become Survey. Will send a link to it if you signed signup sheet. Commitment.

Rural Japan Church Planting Network Founding Meeting Part 2 RJCPN Planning Discussion– How can RJCPN help mobilize, sustain long-term, and resource rural Japan workers and mobilize and equip urban partners? Near-Term Goals and Action Items? Season of Prayer for Rural Japan Rural worker info and idea exchange— Mutually sharing what we are finding works well and what struggles we are seeking to address in our ministry

RJCPN Planning Discussion RJCPN Planning Discussion– RJCPN’s goal is to see how collaboration in various forms can help achieve the goal of rural Japan having lighthouse churches in each community. How can we via RJCPN help 1) In the area of data preservation, updating, research? How make results widely available? Map where Ms are relative to URAs? 1)To increase awareness and prayer for URAs inside Japan? In NA? Outside Japan and NA? 2)To encourage willing redistribution of some workers? To help mobilize and equip new rural workers (foreign NA, non-NA, and Japanese) and the next generation of rural workers? Help agencies not already working in rural Japan get a start in rural Japan? Are cross-agency rural internships feasible? Types of personnel needed, where find? 3)To help connect people with interest (JCF, urban missionaries, urban pastors, retired missionaries and pastors, ex-career military mid-termers, returnees, urban lay persons, etc.) in same clusters in a region in rural Japan with a lead church planter for the cluster? 4)Sustain rural workers long-term (attrition issues)? Cluster of clusters? Inter-agency teams? Prayer partners? Mentors? Relevant member care? MK issues? 5)Rural worker retreats? 6)Help few people reach many URAs? Multiple locations, 1 unit per cluster plus partners? 7)Mobilize and equip urban partners (foreign and Japanese) to assist rural church planters? 8)Rural church planting one day workshops? Workshop in West and East Japan—if do, how get enough interest and how advertize? 9)Encourage ST teams (in Japan, foreign) to go to rural areas? 10)How facilitate idea exchange among rural workers? 11)What tackle in what priority order? Near-Term Goals and Action Items? More distant goals? What do you mainly want to see happen via RJCPN? How do you want to personally contribute to RJCPN? How do we get more aware of and involved in RJCPN-missionaries, Japanese padtors, Japanese lay persons?

Season of Prayer

Rural Missionary/Pastor Info and Idea Exchange Rural worker focus and Idea Exchange (45 min) a) What are you doing and planning to do? b) What are one or a few things you think worked well that you’d like to share with others? c) What are some challenges you’d like to hear how others addressed? (starting core, MK issues, etc.) d) What would help you? e) What can you offer to help raise up, equip, or sustain more rural workers? f) What else do you want to discuss?